Thursday, December 20
Bozeman, MT
7 p.m.
Montana State University
vs
SACRAMENTO STATE
Photo by: R. Dean Hendrickson
Bobcat Women Open Big Sky Play on Thursday Night
12/19/2012 9:41:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The Montana State women's basketball team will open its 2012-13 Big Sky season when it hosts Sacramento State on Thursday night.
CLICK HERE FOR THIS WEEK'S NOTES (pdf)
BIG SKY OPENER: The Montana State women's basketball squad will open its 2012-13 Big Sky Conference schedule when it hosts Sacramento State on Thursday, Dec. 20 at 7 p.m., in Worthington Arena. The Bobcats hold a 13-11 all-time mark in Big Sky openers, and are 25-7 all-time against Sacramento State. MSU has won seven of the last eight meetings with the Hornets; however it was Sacramento State who posted the last win in the series as Fantasia Hillard hit a buzzer-beater for the 77-76 win in Worthington Arena. The Bobcats will conclude weekend play against Northern Arizona, Saturday, Dec. 22 at 2 p.m. MSU is 36-20 all-time against the Lumberjacks, including winning the last five games.
ON THE AIR: Montana State women's basketball games can be heard on KMMS 1450 AM. Should a conflict occur with Bobcat men's basketball, the women's broadcast will be moved back to its original flagship at My 103.5 FM. First-year play-by-play man Adam Seidel will begin his broadcast 15-minutes prior to tip.
QUICK RECAP: The Bobcats have been on an 11-day hiatus following its 68-60 setback to Wyoming in Worthington Arena on Dec. 8. MSU, who has one non-conference game remaining (MSU-Billings), is 6-2 overall, losing to UW and Southern Methodist (71-70). The Bobcat record is the best in the Big Sky Conference heading into this weekend's play, and MSU's two losses in the non-conference are its best mark since the 1987-88 team went 10-0.
ISN'T SHE GRAND? Bobcat senior Rachel Semansky became the 18th member of Montana State's 1000-point club in MSU's win over Clemson. The pride of Highwood now has 1,076 career points, which 15th on the all-time list. In addition, Semansky went over the 700 rebound plateau against SMU, becoming just the ninth Bobcat to reach the milestone. Currently, she is second on the team, averaging 13.3 points per game, while leading the Bobcats under the boards pulling down 7.3 rebounds per outing. Semansky is shooting a team-best 60 percent from the field, which leads the Big Sky Conference. The 6-foot forward has led the league shooting from the field the past two seasons. Semansky posted her 19th career double-double with 20 points and 16 rebounds in Montana State's 65-55 win over Tennessee State on Dec. 3.
THE NAME GAME: Ashley Brumwell, the player formerly known as Ashley Albert, posted her first double-double of the season and the third of her career with 14 points and ten rebounds in MSU's win over Utah State. On the season, she is averaging 10.6 points and is second on the squad hauling down 5.0 rebounds per game. Brumwell, who is the sister-in-law of Bobcat men's basketball player Blake Brumwell, has been in double-figure scoring on four occasions this season and posted a career-high 23 points, connecting on 10-of-19 from the field, in MSU's loss to Wyoming on Dec. 8.
OUR VERY OWN VIOLET BEAUREGARDE: A native of Miles City, Montana, sophomore Kalli Durham has played a major role in MSU's early season successes. Durham, who comes from a strong Bobcat basketball lineage - grandfather Linn, uncle Mick, cousin Casey and current teammate and cousin Shayla Mack - leads MSU and is sixth in the Big Sky Conference averaging 13.8 points per game. In eight starts this season, Durham has been in double-digits six times, including a career-best 23 points in Montana State's win over Clemson at the SMU Hoops for a Cure Classic in Dallas, Texas. In addition, she is first on the team with 13 three-point makes.
BUELLER..BUELLER..BUELLER: Hailing from Twin Bridges, Montana, a town of 400 people, and located 87 miles west of Bozeman, freshman Peyton Ferris was the queen of Montana Class C basketball last winter. She was named the 2012 Montana Gatorade Girls Basketball Player of the Year. Ferris found herself in a starting role for the Bobcats for four games. She is averaging 3.0 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. Ferris notched a season-best six points in Montana State's win over Tennessee State, connecting on one-of-one from the field and four-of-eight from the line. Against Wyoming, Ferris tallied two points in nine minutes of action.
GIMME A BREAK: A relentless defender, Bobcat newcomer Rachel Carter has started five games for the Bobcats during the non-conference. The junior transfer from Foothill College is averaging 1.8 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Carter posted a season-best nine points in MSU's season-opening with at Colorado State. An explosive leaper, Carter recorded a career-best three blocks at Denver and is averaging 3.8 points and 2.9 rebounds per contest.
THE DISH: Serving as one of three tri-captains this season, senior Latisha Adams is back for her final season with the Bobcats. The 5-9 guard from Albuquerque, New Mexico, has played in all eight games this season, including three starts. She is currently averaging 4.6 points and 2.8 rebounds per game. In addition, Adams is second on the team with 16 assists, averaging 2.0 per contest. She has also connected on one three-point attempt has added seven steals and three blocks. Against Wyoming on Dec. 8, Adams started at the point-guard spot and matched a career-high with 11 points against the Cowgirls. For the game, she connected on 4-of-8 field-goal attempts and was three-of-three from the free throw line. She also chipped in three rebounds and a steal.
PHONE HOME: Sophomore Jackie Elliott has played in all eight games, including four starts. Last season, the Billings Central grad worked her way into the starting five by the end of the season. The 2010-11 Montana Gatorade Soccer Player of the Year is currently averaging 5.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. Elliott played a big role in Montana State's win over Utah State on Dec. 1, hitting crucial free throws down the stretch en route to 11 points - seven rebound performance.
TAKING STOCK: Lindsay Stockton, a freshman from Gonzaga Prep in Spokane, Wash., has seen action in all eight games and is averaging 14.5 minutes per contest. The daughter of NBA Hall of Famer John Stockton and the sister of Gonzaga guard David Stockton, she is making a name for herself in the early going for the Bobcats. The 5-6 guard is averaging 4.6 points, 2.1 rebounds and an assist per game. She recorded a season-high 12 points against UM-Western, connecting on four-of-seven from the field with two 3-pointers.
ALL IN THE FAMILY: Freshman Jasmine Hommes is another women's player with a strong lineage to the program. Hommes had two aunts play for MSU, including Brooke (Hommes) Svendsen, an All-Big Sky Conference player and member of the 1992-93 Montana State team that captured the program's only league tournament title, which led to its only NCAA appearance, and Blythe (Hommes) Hintz, the 1996-97 Big Sky Conference Player of the Year and a Kodak All-America Honorable Mention, who is fifth on MSU's all-time rebounding chart and 10th on the all-time scoring list. Jasmine Hommes has played in all eight games this season and is averaging 3.9 points and 2.3 rebounds as one of the first post players off the bench. The 6-1 forward from Lynden, Wash., tallied a season-best 12 points vs. UM-Western on five-of-seven from the floor.
THUNDER FROM DOWN UNDER: Junior Emily Allen, a 6-foot forward from Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, has played in all eight games and is averaging 11 minutes per outing. She is currently averaging 2.4 points and 2.7 rebounds, while shooting 38 percent from the field. This season, Allen posted six points in MSU's win at Denver and hauled down five rebounds against UM-Western. Against North Dakota last December, Allen registered her career-high with eight points. She also recorded a career-high 11 rebounds in the victory over UND.
HOMETOWN PROUD: Bozeman high school standout Alexa (Lexi) Dawkins made the short trip down So. 11th to join the Bobcats this season. An all-state selection with the Hawks last winter, Dawkins has played in all eight games this season, averaging 7.5 minutes, while chipping in 1.4 points and hauling down 2.4 rebounds per contest. In MSU's win over ACC foe Clemson, Dawkins notched a season-best seven rebounds. The 6-foot-1 forward recorded a season-best six points against UM-Western, and currently leads Montana State at the line shooting 88 percent. She also comes from an athletic family as father Dale Dawkins was on the 1987 U of Miami national championship football squad and went on to the NFL as a wide receiver for the New York Jets.
BIG MACK ATTACK: Shayla Mack is a walk-on from Three Forks, MT and is the cousin of Kalli Durham. She has played in two games. She had 2 pts. vs UM-Western.
HITTING THE BOOKS: For the sixth time in the last seven years, the Montana State women's basketball team ranked among the top 12 in the nation at the NCAA Division I level for combined grade-point average inclusive of all student-athletes on its rosters for the 2011-12 season. The Bobcats finished 11th overall with a combined 3.456 grade-point average. MSU was the highest ranked Big Sky team from last winter. Northern Colorado (12), Montana (17) and Eastern Washington (25) also ranked in the top 25.
IT'S ALL ACADEMIC: Montana State senior standout Rachel Semansky earned Capital One Academic All-America Second-Team honors, the nation's highest academic accolade for student-athletes, last winter. Semansky was among fifteen women's basketball players at the NCAA Division I level to achieve the recognition. Semansky sported a 3.95 grade-point average in elementary education. With the honor, Semansky became the first Bobcat women's basketball player to earn the recognition since Evelyn Baldridge in 1985. Baldridge was a third team honoree, while Kathie Roos garnered honorable mention accolades in 1982.
IN A CLASS OF HER OWN: Rachel Semansky is one of 30 female student-athletes who is a candidate for the 2012-13 Senior CLASS Award. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence - community, classroom, character and competition. Candidates will be narrowed to ten finalists midway through the season. Semansky and Idaho State's Kaela Oakes are the only Big Sky players on the list.
NOTING THE 'CATS: Montana State is first in the league out-scoring their opponents by +8.5 per game...The Bobcats are out-rebounding their opponents by +6.9 boards per game, which is second best in the Big Sky...MSU leads the Big Sky in field-goal percentage hitting at a .413 clip from the floor...MSU is second in the league limiting their opponents to .271 from beyond the arc...Montana State has posted wins over the Mountain West, Western Athletic (2), Atlantic Coast and Ohio Valley Conferences...balance and depth have been the key to MSU's early-season successes as 11 of 12 players on the roster are averaging 7.5 minutes or more per game. No one averages more the 28 minutes per game...Rachel Semansky is 14th in the nation shooting 59.7 from the floor.
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